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Ohio State Football: 4th and Short, questions for Week 10

By Blake Biscardi

BATON ROUGE, LA - SEPTEMBER 29: Quarterback Joe Burrow #9 of the LSU Tigers throws the ball during the game against the Mississippi Rebels at Tiger Stadium on September 29, 2018 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Marianna Massey/Getty Images)
BATON ROUGE, LA - SEPTEMBER 29: Quarterback Joe Burrow #9 of the LSU Tigers throws the ball during the game against the Mississippi Rebels at Tiger Stadium on September 29, 2018 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Marianna Massey/Getty Images) /
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PALO ALTO, CA – OCTOBER 27: Blake Mazza #40 of the Washington State Cougars celebrates with teammates after he kicked a 42 yard field goal to put the Cougars ahead of the Stanford Cardinal late in the fourth quarter of their NCAA football game at Stanford Stadium on October 27, 2018 in Palo Alto, California. Washington State won the game 41-38. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
PALO ALTO, CA – OCTOBER 27: Blake Mazza #40 of the Washington State Cougars celebrates with teammates after he kicked a 42 yard field goal to put the Cougars ahead of the Stanford Cardinal late in the fourth quarter of their NCAA football game at Stanford Stadium on October 27, 2018 in Palo Alto, California. Washington State won the game 41-38. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

College Football Playoff Central

Q: List the most unexpected, but reasonable playoff teams you can think of.

A: I firmly believe the playoff race is between a total of eight teams, maybe nine if mass chaos ensues, but I will get to that in the next question. Although it is unlikely, here are a few teams who are still mathematically in the playoff race outside of the traditional powers and top eight teams.

Washington State
Kentucky
West Virginia

Q: If Washington State wins out, do you think they will fall short because of a weak conference?

A: To put it simply, the Cougars need a lot of help to clinch a playoff berth. The deck is stacked against Mike Leach’s crew as they are playing in arguably the weakest Power 5 conference, Notre Dame is in the thick of the playoff race, and the SEC has three potential invitees all ranked in front of them.

Washington State making the playoff is not impossible, it is just a longshot at this point. However, this is college football we are talking about here and nothing ever goes according to plan. In fact, the script is chaos. Take a look back at October.

Week 6: Seven ranked teams lost (three Top-10)

Week 7: Eight ranked teams lost (five Top-10)

Week 8: Six ranked teams lost (No. 2 lost)

Week 9: Eleven ranked teams lost (nine of the eleven losses were from teams ranked between 15-25)

Upsets and the unexpected are always on the table in college football, so I am definitely not writing off the Cougars at this point. Nevertheless, I do not believe Washington State would be to build a resume comparable to the teams ranked in front of them to win a debate for the final playoff spot.

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